HOOPS: Notre Dame vs. Indiana Preview
INDIANA (10-1) VS. NOTRE DAME (8-3)
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis.
Time/TV/Internet: Today, noon. EST; Available on ESPN, UND.com, Sirius/XM Radio Channel 989
Line: Indiana -3 (142 ov/und)
Prediction: Notre Dame 75, Indiana 70
Series Facts: Notre Dame returns to action against Indiana as part of the four-team 2019 Crossroads Classic in downtown Indy.
The Irish and Hoosiers game will be followed by Purdue vs. Butler in this four-team all-Indiana bragging-rights event that began in 2011.
The Notre Dame series with Indiana dates back to 1908 and is led by the Hoosiers 50-22, who have also claimed victory in 16 of the last 21 meetings.
More recently, the Hoosiers have won two straight and three out of the last four meetings with Notre Dame.
This will be the fifth time these two teams have played in the Crossroads Classic. Indiana has won three of the previous four.
NOTRE DAME OVERVIEW
As his Irish muddled through the early part of the season, surprisingly as one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the ACC, Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey insisted the long-range shots would start to fall and the percentages would even out for his team. Perhaps he was onto something.
In the last two games —impressive double-digit wins over Detroit Mercy and UCLA — the Irish combined to shoot 35-of-78 three pointers (45 percent). Those numbers leave Notre Dame and Virginia as the only two ACC teams averaging at least 10 made three-pointers per game.
Staying on script during the Mike Brey era, Notre Dame is the runaway leader nationally so far this season in assist-turnover ratio at 1.82.
Irish guards T.J. Gibbs and Prentiss Hubb rank second and third individually among ACC players in assist-turnover ratio, respectively — Gibbs with 42 assists and 13 turnovers (3.2), Hubb with 52 assists and 22 turnovers (2.4).
INDIANA OVERVIEW
At 10-1 and with quality wins over No. 17 Florida State, UConn and Nebraska, there was some grumblings this week when the Hoosiers were left out of the latest AP Top-25 Poll, and Indiana has a legitimate gripe.
Florida State — a two-loss team that Indiana beat by 16 points two weeks ago — moved up two spots to No. 19 in the latest poll while the Hoosiers received only enough votes to check in at No. 32, perhaps because of a 84-64 loss Dec. 7 at Wisconsin.
Indiana leads all Big 10 teams so far this season in scoring with 82.0 points per game and it is second in both field-goal percentage (.491) and rebounding margin (+10.3).
Hoosier fans travel well to this event each year, and expect today not to be any different. Indiana is 5-3 and looking for its third straight win in this showcase.
GAME OUTLOOK
*Led by 6-9 freshman forward Trayce Jackson-Davis and his 15.1 points per game, Indiana features four scorers in double figures.
Jackson-Davis averaged 16.5 points and 11 rebounds last week in wins over UConn and Nebraska. His stat line against the Cornhuskers of 25 points and 15 rebounds in the overtime win were both career highs, helping to land Jackson-Davis his third Big Ten Freshman of the Week award already this season.
*This game provides Notre Dame a second chance on consecutive Saturdays to record wins against Power 5 Conference teams (on national television) that will hold up well for any postseason prospects the Irish may hold in March.
Before beating UCLA, Notre Dame was 0-3 against Power 5 teams — North Carolina, Maryland, Boston College.
With an undefeated run through its seven games outside of the Power 5, the upset loss at home to BC is the only lingering damage ND may have done to its postseason resume to this point.
Irish guard Dane Goodwin has recently provided a needed and missing offensive spark.
In the back-to-back wins over Detroit Mercy and UCLA, Notre Dame’s sophomore has averaged 21.5 points (on 15-of-25 shooting), 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
QUICK HITS:
*The John Mooney watch continues. Notre Dame’s senior all-American candidate leads the nation with 13.4 rebounds per game and is tied for second with eight double-doubles.
*After leaving the game and not returning in the second-half against Nebraska with a sore Achilles, Indiana senior guard Devonte Green (12.5 ppg) is expected to be fully recovered today.
*The Irish are 4-4 in the Crossroads Classic, and had lost three in row before an 88-80 win over Purdue last December, one of the few bright spots of the entire season.
QUOTEABLE:
“What a difference a week makes. It’s a great group man, I love ‘em, and they want it so bad. I want to be good for them because they’re amazingly coachable,” — Brey on his team’s improved demeanor following consecutive wins after two tough losses.
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